The new Diablo II patch doesn't add any new gameplay features, balance tweaks, or anything like that. Instead, Blizzard has added compatibility with modern operating systems like Windows 10 and OS X. But Blizzard says it's working on improvements to the game's "cheat-detection and hack-prevention capabilities" and hints at more improvements to come.

"There is still a large Diablo II community around the world, and we thank you for continuing to play and slay with us," Blizzard writes. "This journey starts by making Diablo II run on modern platforms, but it does not end there. See you in Sanctuary, adventurers."

Today's patch comes a few months after a Blizzard job posting seeking a "senior software engineer, classic games" to work on continued maintenance for Diablo II, Warcraft III, and Starcraft. That posting said the job would involve "creat[ing] conditions for experiences that look as good as they play" and "own[ing] implementation and curation of features new and old," so we can probably expect more significant updates to all of these Blizzard classics going forward.

That's an impressive amount of dedication for a company that has plenty of new games to worry about supporting. We can only hope Blizzard games like Hearthstone and Overwatch will still get such dedicated support (and have such dedicated communities) in the year 2032.

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Just a heads-up: from what I've seen on their forums, this new patch breaks compatibility with a lot of the existing workarounds for D2's issues and doesn't fix all of those issues, and it also introduces a couple of new bugs. Totally understandable given that they're trying to make some major changes to a 15 year old game, but you might want to delay jumping back in until they've gotten past the early hitches.

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Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

Just a heads-up: from what I've seen on their forums, this new patch breaks compatibility with a lot of the existing workarounds for D2's issues and doesn't fix all of those issues, and it also introduces a couple of new bugs. Totally understandable given that they're trying to make some major changes to a 15 year old game, but you might want to delay jumping back in until they've gotten past the early hitches.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

Interesting timing for I recently installed D2 on a new Dell PC running Win10. The program worked fine, though I am sad to say, I lost my Mage under the monastery. I wish I had backed up those files (sigh).

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

D2 doesn't require an internet connection. Handy for when you're on a flight (or the millions of acres in the US where we don't have internet).

Say what you will about Activision-Blizzard this is the kind of thing that Blizzard seems to be unique in. They continuously show they have a passion for their games and communities. Diablo 3 was a god-awful mess on launch but Blizzard turned that ship around even stripping out a monetization method (the real money AH) because it ruined the core of the game.

When people ask why Blizzard has garnered so much good will from it's fans, these should be the most sterling examples.

One of the things that's kept the game alive for me has been the rather expansive mod community. I was never a fan of core Dii, but mods like Nezeramontias Mod kept my friends and I up all night trying to beat the gauntlet, and farming for souls.

It's good to see they're still keeping up with patches. From what I understand though, iit's just one or two employees doing it for fun during side time.

Say what you will about Activision-Blizzard this is the kind of thing that Blizzard seems to be unique in. They continuously show they have a passion for their games and communities. Diablo 3 was a god-awful mess on launch but Blizzard turned that ship around even stripping out a monetization method (the real money AH) because it ruined the core of the game.

When people ask why Blizzard has garnered so much good will from it's fans, these should be the most sterling examples.

I think it's less passion for their communities and more that they're actually competent.. Blizzard's built their entire business on quality, community engagement, and long-term sale and support of their products, because unlike some companies that come to mind they actually recognize the value of that.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

You mean, like triple-immune special mobs? Or getting locked into a build that turns out bad? Yeah, I don't miss those at all.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

This minus the love for D3... I bought D3 at launch and was disappointed in so many ways. I know plenty of people love D3 but as you said it is nothing like D1 or D2 which is what I was hoping for.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

You mean, like triple-immune special mobs? Or getting locked into a build that turns out bad? Yeah, I don't miss those at all.

That said, I do miss rune words. And Deckard.

I don't miss them either, but I know people who do. PVP's also nowhere near as big in D3, and in general the skill ceiling tends to be a lot lower (granted that's because one of the classes was incredibly and unfixably broken to the point that high level play required using it, but still).

I hate those aspects of Diablo 2, but I know a lot of people who don't and I can fully understand why they're miffed with 3.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

D2 doesn't require an internet connection. Handy for when you're on a flight (or the millions of acres in the US where we don't have internet).

Yep. I really liked being able to run a home LAN party. I could put a copy on a spare computer and have the world "always on".

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

This minus the love for D3... I bought D3 at launch and was disappointed in so many ways. I know plenty of people love D3 but as you said it is nothing like D1 or D2 which is what I was hoping for.

Dunno if you're still playing it - but might want to check it out now. They've added a lot of things that make D3 much, much better than it was. You're going to spend a lot of time in Adventure Mode. That Blizzard keeps tuning this puppy and introducing new features is really encouraging (Kanai's Cube added a lot more flexibility). It DOES remain a different game than D1/D2, though.

A few years ago I completely removed all my D2 chars, with all the equipment spread out over a ton of chars. Stuff like this makes me regret it, and I fire it up from time to time but I just can't let myself go to that monster again.

Blizzard impresses me. Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void were released around the same time, the contrast between them was pretty stark. The one that everyone was hyping and going nuts for was also the big pile of bugs, while LotV was one of the most well honed launch day titles I've gotten in recent times, no showstoppers, nice fast performance on modest hardware, it Just Worked™.

Wish other companies would follow the "wait till it's baked" approach rather than pushing things out on tight schedules and then maybe, maybe patching it to a good state in a year, if we're lucky.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

This minus the love for D3... I bought D3 at launch and was disappointed in so many ways. I know plenty of people love D3 but as you said it is nothing like D1 or D2 which is what I was hoping for.

Dunno if you're still playing it - but might want to check it out now. They've added a lot of things that make D3 much, much better than it was. You're going to spend a lot of time in Adventure Mode. That Blizzard keeps tuning this puppy and introducing new features is really encouraging (Kanai's Cube added a lot more flexibility). It DOES remain a different game than D1/D2, though.

I rage quit D3 years ago... I did beat it a few times before giving up hope. I've heard they made a lot of changes to the game so maybe I will give it another go while I wait for Destiny to release some new content.

Blizzard impresses me. Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void were released around the same time, the contrast between them was pretty stark. The one that everyone was hyping and going nuts for was also the big pile of bugs, while LotV was one of the most well honed launch day titles I've gotten in recent times, no showstoppers, nice fast performance on modest hardware, it Just Worked™.

Wish other companies would follow the "wait till it's baked" approach rather than pushing things out on tight schedules and then maybe, maybe patching it to a good state in a year, if we're lucky.

I don't know if they are really comparable. Legacy of the Void is an expansion pack to a game from 2010, Fallout 4 is a new game. I should hope that Legacy of the Void has fast performance on modest hardware since at it's core it's still a 6 year old game. Now if the DLC for Fallout 4 breaks performance and has tons of bugs it might be comparable. Diablo III had a pretty awful launch filled with bugs and errors too.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

This minus the love for D3... I bought D3 at launch and was disappointed in so many ways. I know plenty of people love D3 but as you said it is nothing like D1 or D2 which is what I was hoping for.

Dunno if you're still playing it - but might want to check it out now. They've added a lot of things that make D3 much, much better than it was. You're going to spend a lot of time in Adventure Mode. That Blizzard keeps tuning this puppy and introducing new features is really encouraging (Kanai's Cube added a lot more flexibility). It DOES remain a different game than D1/D2, though.

I rage quit D3 years ago... I did beat it a few times before giving up hope. I've heard they made a lot of changes to the game so maybe I will give it another go while I wait for Destiny to release some new content.

If you haven't played since the 2.4 patch, you have _no_idea_ what you're missing. None. Get back out there.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

D3 has a distinct lack of necromancer and that totally makes revisiting D2 worth it

What, you don't specifically have an old CRT around for the purposes of playing old games the way they were meant to be played? How dare you you filthy plebeian. /s

Three years ago, I built a late 90s era machine, complete with CRT, Windows 98, and a ball mouse for the express purposes of playing old games that I never got around to. 56k would complete the experience, but some things are better left behind.

Honestly there's no way I'd go back to vanilla D2, D3 is now superior in every respect. If I was going to run D2 it would be for one of the TC mods and most of them modify the executable so unless they are still under active development they would break with a new EXE.

I love D3, but it's a fundamentally different game and it's definitely not better than D2 in every way. A lot of D2's fanbase loves the game for things it does that D3 doesn't do at all,

This minus the love for D3... I bought D3 at launch and was disappointed in so many ways. I know plenty of people love D3 but as you said it is nothing like D1 or D2 which is what I was hoping for.

Dunno if you're still playing it - but might want to check it out now. They've added a lot of things that make D3 much, much better than it was. You're going to spend a lot of time in Adventure Mode. That Blizzard keeps tuning this puppy and introducing new features is really encouraging (Kanai's Cube added a lot more flexibility). It DOES remain a different game than D1/D2, though.

I rage quit D3 years ago... I did beat it a few times before giving up hope. I've heard they made a lot of changes to the game so maybe I will give it another go while I wait for Destiny to release some new content.

If you haven't played since the 2.4 patch, you have _no_idea_ what you're missing. None. Get back out there.

2.0.4 is coming to mind... I quit around the same time the Auction house closed down.

Say what you will about Activision-Blizzard this is the kind of thing that Blizzard seems to be unique in. They continuously show they have a passion for their games and communities. Diablo 3 was a god-awful mess on launch but Blizzard turned that ship around even stripping out a monetization method (the real money AH) because it ruined the core of the game.

When people ask why Blizzard has garnered so much good will from it's fans, these should be the most sterling examples.

I think it's less passion for their communities and more that they're actually competent.. Blizzard's built their entire business on quality, community engagement, and long-term sale and support of their products, because unlike some companies that come to mind they actually recognize the value of that.

This strategy is sensible, given how long they take to make each game. Want to talk Valve time? They stole it from Blizzard.